Kidnapped by a Prince

Chapter 17

Melody's POV 

With Sam finally gone, I allow my body to relax. The tears that I just barely managed to fight off escape and roll down my face. I don't know if I'm crying out of frustration or sadness or anger, possibly all three? Who does Sam think he is? I don't know where he got the idea that we were suddenly friends because we are most certainly not. He busted into my room, the only safe space I had in the whole castle and made fun of me for letting my guard down just once. He made me feel like I had done wrong. Like, by having one friend (if I can even call Xander that) in this godforsaken prison, I had somehow betrayed Darren. F*ck that.

Darren. I feel a painful pang in my chest thinking about him, and, well, all of the people I'd lost since my captivity began.

He was a saint. He was one of the only people who could tolerate my constant rambling about god knows what. When I was with him, I could be myself. He made me feel important and cared for and loved. He made me feel... safe. He had become such a huge part of my life that I often forgot that I had just met him a few years ago.

It was my first day of high school, and I was clinging to Cynthia, my best and only friend, looking exactly like you'd imagine a terrified freshman to look. "Melody, you need to relax. I'm going this way. Go to your class, and I'll see you at lunch" Cynthia said in her tough love way. Although I knew that the fear was still apparent in my eyes, I smiled and nodded. Easy for her to say. Cynthia was absolutely gorgeous in every way and had an equally striking personality. She was going to have no trouble fitting in with the older kids. Me on the other hand... I looked at my schedule and tried to orient myself in the building but to no avail. I tried to stop some of the students rushing by me to ask for help, but I received only nasty glares and impatient yells. The first bell rang and I felt my heart skip a beat. Everyone seemed to be clearing out of the hallways as they filed into their homeroom classes. I couldn't be late on my first day! I imagined myself walking into class 10 minutes late with every student's judgmental eyes watching me. Much to my dismay, the halls had been cleared out except for one or two sprinting students. Right when I had given up hope, I heard a voice from behind me ask, "You alright?"

I turned around to find a smiling boy looking at me. "O-oh, I'm a little, um, uh, turned around I guess?" I responded clearly flustered. "I'm looking for Ms. Smith in room 201?" I said it more like a question and felt embarrassed by my complete lack of confidence.

"Oh yeah, you're actually pretty close to it. It's just down the hall that way," he pointed to his left to guide me, "and then you take the second left," he finished.

After dealing with the earlier crowd, his friendliness was like a breath of fresh air. "Thank you so so much!" I offered hurriedly before running in the direction he had pointed. I took off before even hearing his response.

Although I tried my best to focus during the teacher's introduction, I found my attention drifting back to the boy from earlier. God I was so rude! I thought anxiously. He took the time to help me even though he surely had class as well and I barely even thanked him. I just took off! How selfish!! AH I don't even know his name! I didn't bother asking. What do I do? When my brain finally calms down, I start to remember what he looked like, and, well, he was cute. His brown hair was ruffled just enough to look casual, but not scruffy. And his dimples when he smiled... I couldn't help but smile myself at the memory. I got lost in my thoughts and just like that, the bell rang. Darn, I spaced out all class.

The next class went better as I was able to keep that boy off my mind, but as I walked into my third class a let out a small gasp because in the back corner of the room, I saw him chatting to some girls standing around his desk. He was an upper classmen, what was he doing in my intro class? I thought about thanking him for earlier, but he seemed to have his hands full so I just took a seat in the front. The professor came right as the bell rang and introduced herself. "Hello class, I hope that everyone had an enjoyable summer. I am Ms. Danbury, and Darren will be our student assistant for the term."